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Metropolitan (1990 Film)
''Metropolitan'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy-drama film and the debut of director and screenwriter Whit Stillman. The film concerns the lives of a group of wealthy young socialites during debutante season in Manhattan. In addition to some of their debutante parties, it covers their frequent informal after-hours gatherings at a friend's Upper East Side apartment, where they discuss life, philosophy and their fate; form attachments, romances and intrigues; and react to an interesting but less well-to-do newcomer. ''Metropolitan'' was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 63rd Academy Awards. The film is often considered the first of a trilogy of Stillman films, followed by ''Barcelona'' (1994, but written before ''Metropolitan'') and ''The Last Days of Disco'' (1998). Plot Middle-class Princeton student Tom Townsend, an admirer of Charles Fourier, attends a debutante dress ball one evening on a whim. After the ball, a mix-up leads to his meeting a small group of yo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whit Stillman
John Whitney Stillman (born January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director and actor known for his 1990 film '' Metropolitan'', which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He is also known for his other films, ''Barcelona'' (1994), ''The Last Days of Disco'' (1998), ''Damsels in Distress'' (2011), as well as his most recent film, ''Love & Friendship'', released in 2016. Early life and education Stillman was born in 1952 in Washington, D.C., to Margaret Drinker (née Riley), from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a Democratic politician, John Sterling Stillman, an assistant secretary of commerce under President John F. Kennedy (a classmate of Stillman's father at Harvard), from Washington, D.C. His great-grandfather was businessman James Stillman; his great-great-grandfather, Charles Stillman, founded Brownsville, Texas. Stillman grew up in Cornwall, New York, and experienced depression during puberty. "I was very depressed when I was 11 or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Socialite
A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditional employment. Word history The word ''socialite'' is first attested in 1909 in a California newspaper. It was popularized by ''Time'' magazine in the 1920s.David E. Sumner, ''The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900'', 2010, , p. 62 United Kingdom Historically, socialites in the United Kingdom were almost exclusively from the families of the aristocracy and landed gentry. Many socialites also had strong familial or personal relationships to the British royal family. Between the 17th and early 19th centuries, society events in London and at country houses were the focus of socialite activity. Notable examples of British socialites include Beau Brummell, Lord Alvanley, the Marchioness of Londonderry, Daisy, Princess of P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Debutante Ball
The International Debutante Ball is an invitation-only, formal debutante ball, to officially present well-connected young ladies of distinction from upper-class families to high society. Founded in 1954, it occurs every two years at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Young women from all over the United States and from around the globe are brought together at the ball and the surrounding parties, including daughters of presidents of the United States, billionaire businessmen, diplomats, nobility, ambassadors and governors. Over the years the ball has benefited numerous charities from the International Debutante Ball Foundation including the Soldiers', Sailors', Marines', Coast Guard and Airmen's Club of New York, a social club for members of the United States Armed Services. The International Debutante Ball is considered one of the most prestigious debutante balls in the world. History The International Debutante Ball was founded in 1954 by socialite, philanthropist a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Womanizing
Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by many cultures is the one-night stand, and its frequency is used by researchers as a marker for promiscuity. What sexual behavior is considered promiscuous varies between cultures, as does the prevalence of promiscuity. Different standards are often applied to different genders and civil statutes. Feminists have traditionally argued a significant double standard exists between how men and women are judged for promiscuity. Historically, stereotypes of the promiscuous woman have tended to be pejorative, such as "the slut" or "the harlot", while male stereotypes have been more varied, some expressing approval, such as "the stud" or "the player", while others imply societal deviance, such as "the womanizer" or "the philanderer". A scientific study ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristocrat
The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Rome, or India, aristocratic status came from belonging to a military caste. It has also been common, notably in African societies, for aristocrats to belong to priestly dynasties. Aristocratic status can involve feudal or legal privileges. They are usually below only the monarch of a country or nation in its social hierarchy. In modern European societies, the aristocracy has often coincided with the nobility, a specific class that arose in the Middle Ages, but the term "aristocracy" is sometimes also applied to other elites, and is used as a more generic term when describing earlier and non-European societies. Some revolutions, such as the French Revolution, have been followed by the abolition of the aristocracy. Etymology The term arist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hereditary Title
Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are nobility titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families. Though both monarchs and nobles usually inherit their titles, the mechanisms often differ, even in the same country. The British crown has been heritable by women since the medieval era (in the absence of brothers), while the vast majority of hereditary noble titles granted by British sovereigns are not heritable by daughters. Gender preference Often a hereditary title is inherited only by the legitimate, eldest son of the original grantee or that son's male heir according to masculine primogeniture. In some countries and some families, titles descended to all children of the grantee equally, as well as to all of that grantee's remoter descendants, male and female. This practice was common in the Kalmar Union, and was frequently the case in the letters patent issued by King Eric of Pomerania, King Joseph Bonaparte conf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regency Era
The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between and 1837. George III of the United Kingdom, King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 1810 and, by the Regency Act 1811, his eldest son George IV of the United Kingdom, George, Prince of Wales, was appointed prince regent to discharge royal functions. When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent succeeded him as George IV. In terms of periodisation, the longer timespan is roughly the final third of the Georgian era (1714–1837), encompassing the last 25 years or so of George III's reign, including the official Regency, and the complete reigns of both George IV and his brother William IV of the United Kingdom, William IV. It ends with the accession of Queen Victoria in June 1837 and is followed by the Victorian era (1837–1901). Although the Regency era is remembered as a time of refinement and culture, that was the prese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Fourier
François Marie Charles Fourier (;; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become mainstream thinking in modern society. For instance, Fourier is credited with having originated the word ''feminism'' in 1837. Fourier's social views and proposals inspired a whole movement of intentional communities. Among them in the United States were the community of Utopia, Ohio; La Reunion near present-day Dallas, Texas; Lake Zurich, Illinois; the North American Phalanx in Red Bank, New Jersey; Brook Farm in West Roxbury, Massachusetts; the Community Place and Sodus Bay Phalanx in New York State; Silkville, Kansas, and several others. In Guise, France, he influenced the . Fourier later inspired a diverse array of revolutionary thinkers and writers. Life Fourier was born in Besançon, France on 7 April 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. It is one of the highest-ranked universities in the world. The institution moved to Newark, New Jersey, Newark in 1747, and then to the current site nine years later. It officially became a university in 1896 and was subsequently renamed Princeton University. It is a member of the Ivy League. The university is governed by the Trustees of Princeton University and has an endowment of $37.7 billion, the largest List of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment, endowment per student in the United States. Princeton provides undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate education, graduate in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Last Days Of Disco
''The Last Days of Disco'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Whit Stillman, and loosely based on his travels and experiences in various nightclubs in Manhattan, including Studio 54. Starring Chloë Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale, the film follows a group of Ivy League and Hampshire College graduates falling in and out of love in the disco scene of New York City in the early 1980s. ''The Last Days of Disco'' is the third film (following '' Metropolitan'' and ''Barcelona'') in what Stillman calls his "Doomed-Bourgeois-in-Love series". The three films are independent of each other except for cameo appearances of some common characters. According to Stillman, the idea for ''Disco'' was originally conceived after the shooting of ''Barcelona'' disco scenes. In 2000, Stillman published a novelization of the film. The film was released theatrically in the United States on June 12, 1998; its DVD and video releases followed in 1999. The DVD releases eventually went ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barcelona (film)
''Barcelona'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Whit Stillman and set in Barcelona. The film stars Taylor Nichols, Chris Eigeman and Mira Sorvino. ''Barcelona'' is the second film (after '' Metropolitan'' (1990) and preceding ''The Last Days of Disco'' (1998)) in what Stillman calls his "Doomed- Bourgeois-in-Love series". The three films are independent of each other except for the cameo appearances of some common characters. Plot The main character in ''Barcelona'' is a Chicago salesman named Ted Boynton, who lives and works in the eponymous Spanish city in 1987. Ted's cousin, Fred, a naval officer, unexpectedly comes to stay with Ted at the beginning of the film. Fred has been sent to Barcelona to handle public relations on behalf of a U.S. fleet scheduled to arrive later. The cousins have a history of conflict since childhood, to which the film refers several times. Ted and Fred develop relationships with various single women in Barcelona and exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
63rd Academy Awards
The 63rd Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 25, 1991, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, Academy Awards (commonly referred to as the Oscars) were presented in 22 categories. The ceremony, which was televised in the United States on ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Jeff Margolis. Actor Billy Crystal hosted for the second consecutive year. Three weeks earlier in a ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on March 2, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Geena Davis. ''Dances with Wolves'' won seven awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included '' Dick Tracy'' with three awards, '' Ghost'' with two awards, and '' American Dream'', ''Creature Comforts'', ''Cyrano de Bergerac'', '' Days of Waiting'', ''Goodfellas'', ''The Hunt for Red October'', '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
